Portrayed by reports in recent months to be brutal rivals who dislike each other, CEOs Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs were spotted drinking coffee Friday in Palo Alto, Calif.

Photos of Schmidt and Jobs talking were snapped and sent to Gizmodo. Jobs was in his trademark mock turtleneck and jeans at the cafe Calafia in the Town and Country shopping center. The establishment is owned by former Google chef Charlie Ayers.

Jobs was overheard by the photographer as saying two things: "They're going to see it all eventually, so who cares how they get it," reportedly said about Web content. And, "Let's go discuss this somewhere more private," after a crowd began to gather around the two.

The report said that Schmidt was mostly quiet and listening while Jobs did most of the talking.

"The fact they'd meet in a neutral place like this implies, although does not prove, they chose a public place for its neutrality," Gizmodo's Brian Lam wrote. "Or they just wanted coffee and inevitably started talking shop, albeit in public. But since when do billionaires have to step out for coffee? The only thing that adds up is that neither felt comfortable meeting at each other's HQs, and this is the start of talks that will inevitably be tense for both sides."

Jobs' Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG was also spotted parked out front.

Is that an iPad near Schmidt's coffee?

In addition to being chief executive of the search giant, Schmidt was also a member of the Apple Board of Directors until last year. Since his departure from the Apple board, Schmidt has shared kind words on the Mac maker. However, the perception of a growing rivalry and intense dislike between the two companies has only grown.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that people close to Jobs said the Apple executive feels that Google "violated the alliance" it had with the iPhone maker when it began producing its own Android-powered cellphones that resemble the iPhone. One person familiar with both companies said the level of animosity involved puts it on a level of "World War III" between the two tech giants.

That report alleged that Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page considered Jobs a mentor, and were regular visitors to the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus. And while the relationship between Jobs and Schmidt was said to be pleasant, the two were reportedly "never close friends."

In February, multiple reports suggested Jobs disparaged Google at a meeting with Apple employees. Specifically, he was quoted as saying that the search giant's "don't be evil" motto is "a load of crap" -- an incident later corroborated by the Times. It was also alleged that Jobs said Google wants to "kill" the iPhone.

It has even been rumored that Apple and Microsoft entered into talks to make Bing the default search engine and maps provider for the iPhone. Google, in the wake of those reports, has maintained that Apple is a "valuable partner."

Legally parked; still no plates...

And Schmidt has also insisted that all is well between the two companies stating that he has a "soft spot" in his heart for Apple. The former board member also had a peek at some of the products the Cupertino, Calif., company is working on, and said Apple has "a lot of very good stuff coming."

I have the sneaking suspicion that Schmidt knows HTC doesn't have a chance, and he's meeting with Steve in a non-confrontational manner to discuss terms.

Or, it could be a "last meal" sort of thing for Schmidt before he ends up somewhere a few miles off the coast.

You may have something there.

I think the choice of HTC -- and HTC alone -- was quite strategic. Palm is dying anyway, Samsung/LG are component suppliers, and SE/Nokia are, frankly, behind the curve on the technology and perhaps not (yet) worth the bother. With HTC, it is also a nice swipe at Google.

Well, something is going on because they obviously *knew* they'd be seen in public, and perhaps even *wanted* to be seen in public. An obvious observation, sure, but it speaks volumes.

the article says neither was comfortable being at the other's HQ - but the article is written by a moron at gizmodo. Anybody can see that this is, without a doubt, a "publicity stunt." Never in a million years would SJ and ES think they could get any privacy sitting outside like that. The photos of them drinking coffee together is exactly what they wanted. Diffuse the drama circulating about their relationship, and talk about the issues like men.

the article says neither was comfortable being at the other's HQ - but the article is written by a moron at gizmodo. Anybody can see that this is, without a doubt, a "publicity stunt." Never in a million years would SJ and ES think they could get any privacy sitting outside like that. The photos of them drinking coffee together is exactly what they wanted. Diffuse the drama circulating about their relationship, and talk about the issues like men.

What i'm more curious about is, who reached out to who first?

+1 Photo op all the way! No chance that they would meet in the valley, in the open and not do it to be seen. If they wanted to hide, they could have chosen a dark corner at least.
As for real negotiation, they have minions to do that.

Maybe Jobs realizes that Eric is a d*@k cut from the same cloth as himself after the recent revelations and was genuinely and publicly reaching out as a kindred spirit (amoral, cheating petty guy ;-) People like that should stick together.

Looking at the pics of Jobs, all I can think of is the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry's girlfriend wears the same dress every time he sees her -- then he goes back to her house to get her to change only to find out that every picture of her in the house shows her wearing the same dress

Perhaps they were discussing Apple's soon-to-debut WYSIWYG HTML5 development app? It would really make sense if Apple was developing such a thing. Not only would it give an easy path away from Flash and ease the transition for web creators, it could also be a very profitable enterprise.

Believe nothing, no matter where you heard it, not even if I have said it, if it does not agree with your own reason and your own common sense.Buddha

I don't think they really ever were at odds with each other to begin with, it was just made to look that way.

Sounds strange, but wouldn't you rather a competitor that works with you than against you?

Apple isn't going to corner the market in smart phones, so somebody else has to fill the rest of the market and better Google than Microsoft.

Microsoft would support the hardware makers lawsuit against Apple, bringing it's huge cash hoard to the table from software sales, but Google won't.

Apple wins, gets to sue the pants off the hardware makers and get them to stop copying their IP.

It's all about who can suffer the huge legal fees from a lengthy lawsuit the longest.

Google is in the smart phone market only to keep Microsoft out.

Good Cop Bad Cop....!? Yep, I think this photo is a deliberate leak, pr stunt...

As to keeping MSFT out... Quite possibly... It's all a game...

Quote:

Originally Posted by allblue

Perhaps they were discussing Apple's soon-to-debut WYSIWYG HTML5 development app? It would really make sense if Apple was developing such a thing. Not only would it give an easy path away from Flash and ease the transition for web creators, it could also be a very profitable enterprise.

Yep, with all that anti-Adobe & Flash stuff, I'd love to not use Dreamweaver. iWeb is a bit too "light" for me... Other tools are proprietary, just like Dreamweaver, but if Apple made iWeb Pro, so one can use it with any other Hosting Provider, or Host Multiple Domains on Mobile Me, but all in a very easy JUST WORKS way, tied in to all of iLife etc -- that would make most people into their own Web Developers! And make it so standard compliant that one is never trapped in it, the way I feel trapped in Dreamweaver! Hope you are right about WYSIWYG HTML 5 application!